Madison hopes to send Union Beach kids to summer camp

MADISON – For the vast majority of residents here, Super Storm Sandy on Oct. 29, 2012, is a bad memory of power outages, freezing nights, long lines for gasoline, and damage from fallen trees, all of it over within a matter of weeks or less.

Forty miles away, in the Monmouth County blue-collar community Union Beach – which took a direct hit from Sandy -- the storm’s devastation is no memory. It remains a daily reality, and among those still in need of relief are Union Beach’s children.

Nearly a year and a half after Sandy, many Union Beach children are still living in temporary quarters, motels, trailers, or doubled up with relatives. They continue to need some respite from their long, day-to-day struggles.

In the immediate aftermath of the storm in late 2012, with Madison essentially recovered, Mayor Robert Conley first pitched the idea of a partnership between the borough and Union Beach to help the Jersey Shore community get back on its feet. After he and Councilman Robert Landrigan paid a visit to Union Beach, they led a public information meeting to rally Madison in a united volunteer effort. The response was positive and strong, and in late 2012 and throughout 2013, countless community groups, from school children to corporations, contributed funds, food, clothing, supplies, sports equipment, building materials – and labor. In one sign of the campaign’s impact, the new Chief Executive Council for Madison – a coalition of business, education and government leaders – provided more than $300,000 of support to Union Beach.

And just one of the many projects undertaken by Madison volunteers last year was a fund drive that gave Union Beach children a respite from their community’s conditions by sending them to summer camps.

Campaign Revived

This year, that need for an escape to camp still exists – in fact, the desire among Union Beach children has grown – but Madison volunteer organizers worry that with the passage of time, it is a need that may no longer be understood here, and the necessary dollars could dry up.

Peggy Codey, the wife of Borough Administrator Raymond Codey, is on a mission to see that doesn’t happen, by revitalizing the summer camp campaign.

Last year, she noted, 48 children from Union Beach “were able to escape the relentless effects of Hurricane Sandy and attend summer camp for two weeks,” through the “generosity of countless residents of Madison” and such supporters as the Madison Area YMCA, Quest Diagnostics, the Thenen Foundation, the Community Foundation of New Jersey, the children of St. Vincent Martyr School, the Chatham Day School, the senior citizens of the Madison Housing Authority’s apartment complex on Chateau Thierry Avenue, Fairleigh Dickinson University students, Provident Bank, the Rotary Club of Madison, Lanca Sales, plus “the Thomas Haralampoudis family and the untold labor of Girl Scout volunteers.”

Peggy Codey recalled that the Camp Speers-Eljabar YMCA, the Frost Valley YMCA Camp and the Fairview Lakes YMCA Camp provided “camperships” at a 20 percent discount for Union Beach campers – with all the funds raised by the Madison community, and no tax dollars involved – and reported “the camp directors are once again happy to provide this opportunity for the children during the 2014 summer. Camp tuition for a two week stay away is $1,370,” she said.

“Many of the residents of Union Beach continue to need support ‘getting back to normal’,” she observed. “As part of our dedication to the Union Beach Partnership,” Peggy Codey said, organizers are reaching out for financial support “for this very important program.”

‘Touch The Heart’

In 2013, she noted, “Camp counselors, school personnel, moms and dads could not speak highly enough about how this program helped the children begin to move through hard times and just be ‘kids’ for a short time over the summer. The ‘letters from camp’ sent to us from the children touch the heart and reveal their deep gratitude for this opportunity.”

Her husband, Borough Administrator Codey, recalled that one child raved about her opportunity to ride a horse, while a boy told the Madison group his trip to summer camp meant “I got to take a hot shower for the first time” after the October storm.

Now, for the coming summer, Peggy Codey said, with the boost of a $15,000 donation from the Quest Diagnostics Foundation and $1,052 from the Peer Leaders group at the grades 6-8 Madison Junior School, “we have a start toward providing ‘camperships’ for a second year. We would like to once again raise the monies to provide at least 50 Union Beach children the opportunity to attend camp.”

The goal for the 2014 drive is $60,000, she said. “This amount will pay for the YMCA camp tuitions -- given at a 20 percent discount – provide the children with some camp gear, transportation and a minimal amount of money for each child to purchase any needed items at the camp stores. Every dollar of every donation goes to the camp project,” she emphasized. “No administrative fees are charged. Coordination of this project is provided on a volunteer basis.”

She said it was her hope that financial support from the Madison community will “help make this dream a reality” and “keep our commitment to Union Beach alive. The Madison Area YMCA is serving as a financial conduit for any charitable contribution,” she advised.

The Madison Area YMCA is a 501(c)(3) entity, recognized to receive charitable donations. Contributions should be made out to the Madison Area YMCA, and sent to: Madison Area YMCA, 111 Kings Road, Madison, N.J. 07940.

Her husband, the borough administrator, added that “the Mayor and Council have been so supportive of this project, and the Madison Area YMCA has been outstanding.”

Raymond Codey said Madison organizers will be heading to Monmouth County on Wednesday, April 23, to meet with Union Beach Superintendent of Schools Joseph J. Annibale, “who is telling me the demand is high” with as many as 100 children eager for a chance at summer camp.

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